Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9203020246
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He believes he is the first Claytor angler to catch a muskie, back in 1966, an era when any muskie landed was a Moby Dick.
He wrestled a 26-pound carp from Claytor in December 1987, and he doesn't know of anyone who has topped that weight.
Then late last June, he had been casting for striped bass in the twisting, Peak Creek arm of the lake on a day that appeared to hold little promise of any catch, much less a memoriable one.
"I wasn't doing any good on stripers, so I changed plugs and I put on a [Rebel] Crawfish. It is a pretty faithful plug that I always use. I made about three casts into the bank and that thing nailed it."
That "thing" was a 14-pound, 6-ounce largemouth bass reported to be weighed at Conrad Brothers Marine. It is the heaviest of its kind taken anywhere in Virginia last season, according to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
"I thought I had hung into a log at first," said Davidson.
When you pump a Rebel Crawfish, it digs along the bottom, stiring mud as it goes, which means hangups aren't uncommon.
But the snag quickly became a wide-bodied, 26-inch bass that Davidson watched erupt skyward, his Crawfish plug in the lip of its bucket-sized mouth.
Davidson hung on and hoped that his heart and his 14-pound line would stand the strain.
"I have heart trouble. I have had two heart attacks," he said.
One thing that had a calming influence, Davidson didn't realize how big the bass really was.
"I had my drag set just exactly right. We tussled there about 15 minutes. He came clear out of the water three times. I want to tell you what, Buddy. I had to stop and take a nitroglycerin after I landed it."
Claytor, a 4,500-acre expansion of the New River in Pulaski County, was an unlikely candidate for producing the season's top largemouth. Holding more potential were Lake Gaston, where Melissa Boucher of Midlothian landed the No. 2 bass of the season, a 12-pound, 2-ounce December catch. Or Lake Conner, one of Virginia's Florida bass lakes, where Robert Sanne of Raleigh, N.C., caught a 12-pounder, the third best.
Just 10 days after Davidson's catch, and only a few miles down the New River drainage, Alex Scott of McCoy landed the largest muskie of 1991, a 31-pound, 9-ounce trophy that measured 50 inches.
Since 1979, Scott, 43, has been casting and trolling for muskie with legendary success, his total swelling to 287, including the four catches he has made this season.
His July 4 giant was the fourth over 30 pounds, the best a 35 1/2-pounder caught on a trolled Hellbender plug in June, 1988.
For a time, Virginia muskie were considered to be a cold-weather catch, but about six years ago Scott made the warming discovery that the very best action can occur in June and July. These mysterious fish not only become active feeders then, but when hooked they fight about twice as hard, Scott said.
"If you catch them in June or July, they are going to give you a fight."
The July 4 fish struck in a large pool below a bridge and came charging out of the water when it felt the hook on Scott's Dardevle Spoon.
"He was pretty mean," said Scott. In fact, the fish fought so hard that it bellied up everytime Scott attempted to release him. It was the only muskie out of his 17 catches last season that he kept.
The New River's production of 36 citation muskie in '91 was well ahead of any other fishing spot. Second place went to Smith Mountain Lake, where eight were registered. The James River, once the leading muskie producer, had only four citations.
Scott wonders if it is a matter of declining fishing pressure on the James. Muskie angling can be so demanding that burn out is common, he said.
Even Scott doesn't stalk these cunning creatures as much as he once did, but his success ratio is higher.
"I think I have gone six or seven times this year, and I've already caught four."
Davidson, also, is on a roll. Last week, while casting to the area where he landed his trophy largemouth bass, he caught a citation-size, 5 pound, 12 ounce smallmouth.
by CNB